Mudbloods and Murmurs
by always-a-hp-girl
Summary: Dramione set during COS. What happens after Hermione confronts Malfoy after the first time he ever called her a Mudblood.
1. Chapter 1

Draco was sitting in the library. Quidditch practice had dragged out, and was now facing a dreaded essay on beetle-to-button transfiguration, which was incredibly boring. The day had been a very long one, and the only light gleam of the day, was Weasley puking snails all over the Quidditch pitch. He laughed at the mere memory of it. Hermione had walked into the library, she was hoping to impress Lockhart with her essay "What is your rendition of my quest as described in 'Holiday with Hags'. As she was writing her essay, she looked up and noticed Draco Malfoy at a nearby table. Her thoughts traveled back to earlier today when he had called her a "Mudblood." Hagrid had to explain what it meant, after, but it was definitely the rudest thing he could have come up with. Leaning back in his seat after finishing about a third of his essay, he caught a glimpse of Granger. Of course it had to be her, walking in to the nearly deserted library. She couldn't have chosen any other day to sit in there? Obviously not. A flash of regret hit him, as he recalled what he had called her earlier that day, but he quickly pushed it away - he simply regretted not saying anything worse, probably, maybe. She bit her lip. Should she talk to him about it? Would it do any good? Ron was already burping up slugs for her - the damage had clearly been done. He caught her staring at him. And now she had noticed he was there. Just perfect. Why couldn't that little filthy human being just stay to herself. He looked back at his essay, and tried to muster up something to write, but his mind came out all blank. He snuck up a glance, to see if she still was there, but quickly looked back. This was stupid, he muttered to himself. Enough was enough, she decided. She wasn't able to focus anyway, that's how she was able to convince herself. Getting up and leaving her essay she approached Malfoy and cleared her throat. He looked up. Looking up, he saw that Granger had actually approached him. Why him. Why was it always him? "What do you want, Granger," he drawled, putting as much poison as he could in to those five words. She didn't know what to say. How could she bring up what happened today without it sounding like she was dwelling over it. He rolled his eyes at her, and looked back at his essay. If she didn't want to say anything, he certainly wouldn't push her to do it.

"I'm waiting for you to apologize." Were the words that finally left her mouth.

**"**For what," he asked and looked up at her again. "For being rude? I hope you didn't expect anything else from me." She actually thought about those words. She realize he was right. She didn't expect anything else from him. Why was she dwelling on this then?

"I wasn't." She finally said. "But you should still take it back."

Forcing himself not to roll his eyes again, he simply stared at her. "Sorry," he drawled, his voice still laced with irony. She stared at him. What was she expecting? She almost forgot who she was dealing with. The ignorant, arrogant Draco Malfoy.

"Mean it." She growled.

"Why," he asked with a playful smile on his lips. He couldn't believe that this was actually entertaining for him, but teasing Granger had been something he'd enjoyed for the past year.

Now it was her turn to roll her eyes. "You know what? Forget it." She turned away

"You should learn how to take a joke," he called after her, earning an angry look from Madame Pince. "Acting like you have a wand stuck up you-know-where will get you nowhere in life."

She turned back to him, glaring. "That was NOT a joke." She practically yelled, not bothering to lower her voice.

"But it was," he retorted. He rolled up his parchment and collected his books in his bag. "And I suggest you lower your voice, before Madame Pince finds a reason to throw you out of your precious library." She followed him out, she wasn't going to let him get away with this.

"If it was a joke, why did no one laugh?" She demanded.

"The Slytherins laughed," he said, stopping in his tracks outside the library.

She glared at him. "Well ha ha." And with that she turned her heel and walked away. He watched her walk away, and with a small thought of "I'm going to hate myself for this tomorrow." He ran after her.

"Granger," he said. "I'm sorry, okay. I won't call you a - that, again." What had gotten in to him? She turned around. Her eyes wide in shock. This IS what she wanted, but... it wasn't right.

Wasn't she going to say anything? A thank you maybe? No? Nothing. He stood there, watching her carefully, wondering if she was going to hex him...?

"Thank you." Now she was wondering if he actually meant it. He didn't answer her. He simply turned around and started to walk towards the dungeons. His head fuming with his own thoughts about how absolutely stupid that was. Hopefully, she would keep her mouth shut to Potter and Weasley though. She ran back to the Gryffindor Common Room. She had done it - she had gotten the slick git to apologize. But... that wasn't enough, for some reason. Still fuming in bed that night, his mind started to wander. Why had he even bothered to apologize to that bothersome know-it-all? It was all very stupid of course, it was just... He hadn't meant it. Of course. Maybe. No. He'd certainly meant it. No one could ever know about this though. It wasn't until the wee hours of dawn, that Draco finally fell asleep in the Slytherin common room. Hermione was tossing and turning herself. She should be asleep by now, but her thoughts all turned back to a slick-haired blonde "Stupid Malfoy" she whispered to herself.

The morning after, Draco was sitting by the Slytherin table, red-eyed and absolutely not looking his best. He was glad it was Sunday, so he had another day to get that bloody essay done, and maybe catch some z's when nobody was looking. His eyes kept trailing of to the Gryffindor table for some reason though, but he couldn't see Granger anywhere. "Stupid Granger," he muttered silently, making sure no one heard him.

Hermione had overslept. By the time she had woken up her dormitory was empty - she expected everyone was at breakfast. She hoped she wasnt too late. Rushing to get dressed, she made her way down to the Great Hall. Draco was almost finished with his bacon when he saw her storm in. He quickly retreated his eyes to himself, hoping to everything that was good in the world, that she hadn't seen his spontaneous reaction to her entrance. Luckily for him, she hadn't. However, as she was pouring herself milk her eyes wandered over to the Slytherin table. Now she was scanning it? But their eyes met. Draco followed her with his eyes to the Gryffindor table, and their eyes locked. He could feel his blush spreading over his face, and he quickly retracted his eyes again. Stupid Granger, he thought once again. In any case, he decided to linger a bit in the Great Hall after everyone was done eating, pretending that he was reading the Daily Prophet someone had left behind. The Great Hall was soon nearly deserted, only a few people sitting at the various tables. She noticed the crowd thinning out. Harry had gone off to Quiddich Practice, which was rescheduled and Ron was off doing his detention in the hospital wing. When Draco looked up from the Daily Prophet the next time, he was almost alone in the Great Hall. No one was sitting there except from that one girl. Hermione Granger. What was his problem exactly? It was Granger, he didn't want to talk to her? But still, like he was on auto-pilot, he got up from his seat and started to walk towards her. She noticed someone approach her. It was Draco! What was he doing? She looked around, in panic, but calmed herself down

"Hi," he said rather awkwardly as he finally came close to her. Now, what what he supposed to say more? He should have a reason to be there. "Did you sleep well?" Was all he could muster up to say. Seriously? What was wrong with him. And now he wanted to die in a hole, great. She noticed how red his eyes were. She also noticed the bags under his eyes. She wondered if she should comment on this.

"I'm fine. Yes, I did sleep well," she lied, "How are you?" she added as an afterthought.

"I just... noticed you were late," he rambled. "I'm fine. Well. Didn't sleep, but I'll try to get in a nap when I'm done with my essay." Why was he telling her this?

"Do you...need help?" She didn't know why she just offered Draco Malfoy help. She never even let Harry and Ron copy off her homework.

~~To Be Continued~~


	2. Chapter 2

Draco was confused about this whole situation. He hated her, didn't he? Why was he sitting with her then, talking to her? And she'd made it clear that she hated him, yet she offered to help him with this stupid essay...he did kind of need help...but what if this was a trick? "Why would you want to help me?" He asked her. This was one of the few questions Hermione had a difficult time answering. She bit her lip. This was stupid, she shouldn't have said anything.

"Well, I just thought I'd be nice..." she replied honestly. He thought about it for a moment. She was the smartest student, though she'd probably make him feel like an idiot.

"I'll accept your help." She smiled and they walked to the library. Please don't let anyone see me, Draco thought. Hermione must have reciprocated his thought process because when they entered the library she took a table in the very back, near the Restricted Section. Draco smiled to himself. At least Granger had the common sense to not be seen together. He sat down across from her and pulled his parchment and book out of his bag.

"Can I read it?" Hermione asked simply. He rolled his eyes and passed it over to her. He knew she'd find it mediocre at best, but he did need her help with this essay.

"Have at it."

After fifteen minutes she looked back up. "It's not bad at all, i've fixed all your errors, but you've only made two main ones. Just have a go at the conclusion and I'll read it over again" He hated being corrected, but he gritted his teeth, taking the parchment back and thinking over a conclusion. Hermione had said it wasn't bad, though...she wasn't being harsh with him like he'd expected, and her corrections actually seemed right when he read over them. He wrote a conclusion and handed it back. Hermione read it all in five minutes and nodded. "Good." she complimented him.

He eyed her suspiciously. "Do you mean that or are you trying to get me a failing grade?" She blushed, and quickly looked down at her own essay, writing down a sentence or two. "What are you doing?" He asked. She hadn't answered his question. He couldn't help but be suspicious of the girl that hated him.

"Finishing my conclusion." Hermione snapped. She looked up and softened her expression. "Sorry."

"You didn't answer my question," he said, crossing his arms over his chest after putting away his parchment.

"I'm not trying to fail you." she replied.

He nodded. "Alright then," he said, looking around to make sure they were still alone.

"I...should go, though." Hermione said, starting to get up. Why did she hope he would stop her...

He cleared his throat. He didn't want her to go, but he couldn't tell her that. "You don't have to. No one is in here yet."

She stopped trying to get up. "That's true.." she agreed

He smiled a bit. "We could...hang out?" He asked, unsure if that was what he wanted to do. He knew he didn't want her to go, but he had no more homework he needed help with.

"I suppose we could..." Hermione wasn't sure why she was agreeing

He moved his feet under the table nervously, accidentally touching one of hers. "Sorry," he said, pulling it back. It was an awkward moment. Hermione attempted to tuck some of her bushy hair behind her ear. Draco had nothing to say. Or rather, nothing he could say.

"So...er..."

"This is extremely awkward," he commented. Hermione laughed nervously. Yet both of them seemed glued to their chairs He thought back to last night, about their fight. He hadn't known being called that would hurt her so much.

"I really am sorry about before..."

**S**he blushed again. "It's okay." She said it. "To be fair..." she didn't know why she was about to say this "I didn't know what it meant" she lowered her voice and her face.

Draco looked down at his hands, which he was fidgeting with. "I didn't know it was...a bad name...my parents say it all the time..."

"I bet they do." Hermione replied coldly, but not as coldly as she could have. She knew it was a lie, but she was still pleased her that he was trying to grovel. Draco looked up at her and smiled. For the first time he looked at her without anyone else's opinions on his mind. He didn't see her as a know-it-all or a mudblood..he looked at her as a girl...a oddly pretty one.

"So, yeah. Sorry." He cleared his throat.

"I accept your apology. But just know, if you are to ever call me that word again...well, it doesn't mean much." She finished weakly. "I'm not one to get offended by it, in other words."

**H**e smirked at her. "Then why was it so important to you that I apologize?"

"I still understood its intent." she replied fiercly.

He didn't like her tone of voice, particularly that she had pointed it at him. "How did you even know I'd apologize?"

"I didn't." she replied cooly. He nodded, not sure what to say now. "But I was hoping you would..." Hermione went on sheepishly.

"I'm glad I did," he admitted, a blush rising to his cheeks.

She looked sharply up at him. "Do you really?" She sounded in awe.

"No one can know." he said quickly.

"My friends would kill me if they found out...and I'm sure yours would too. This is between us," he amended, trying to sound less mean.

Hermione gulped. She nodded to showed she understood.

"But I am glad I did," he said quietly.

**"M**e too" she replied, just as quietly

"So...er...friends?" He asked awkwardly.

She noticed he had held his hand out. She shook it and smiled. "Harry's going to kill me." she giggled.

"I'll kill him first," he joked, letting go of her hand a bit reluctantly.

Hermione let her arm falter. and gave him a polite but fake smile. "Ron too..." she added as an afterthought.

"If you don't want to be friends..." He started, looking away.

"I do." she replied quietly, and bit her lip.

He watched her bite her lip. How had he never noticed how cute it was? "They won't find out..." he promised her.

Let she let go of biting her lip. "I'm sure they wont..." she stared off into the distance "and you can call me that some more...I wont hate you for it. They might, but I wont let them attack you or anything..." why was she sticking up for him

"I don't want to call you that," he whined a bit, but knew he had to keep up appearances for their respective friends.

"you're going to have to..." she said softly, as if to console him. she knew this was wrong on so many levels.

He nodded. "Just, don't get mad at me, okay?"

"I won't" she smiled. "However," she added on "If you attack Harry or Ron..."

"I won't attack your little friends unless they attack me first, which I believe is fair," he rolled his eyes.

"And I promise If you say something snarky to them ... well, they're not jinxing you on my watch. Unless you deserve it." She added as an after thought

"I can't promise anything about my friends...they won't hold back..." he added.

"mine either." she agreed

"So let's not make promises about our friends...and let's not hold their actions against each other, okay?" He asked, thinking it seemed like a good deal.

"And let's try to stay away from the hate talk about each other." she thought about that for a second. "Never mind." She said

"I dunno if I can do that" he laughed a bit. "Gotta keep our appearances ups."

She laughed, "Well, looks like I'm agreeing now." He smiled over at her and laughed a bit. He looked down at his hands as he thought about how cute she actually was. His cheeks turned bright red. "You're blushing.." she giggled.

"Am not!" He denied.

"Now you're blushing harder" she swung her legs from under the table and they accidently brushed up against his again

He didn't pull his legs away from hers. "I'm not blushing," he lied, knowing his face was bright red now. She gave him a look as if to call him out. He smiled at her and looked away. "Maybe…" She grinned. She was suddenly conscious about the size of her teeth, but it would look strange if she shut her mouth suddenly. Draco moved his foot slightly, rubbing their feet together.

"Well, I'd better get...erm..." she said, retracting her feet

He pulled his foot away, standing up. "Yeah...me too..."

"But can we meet-" She cut herself off, she didn't know how to end the question

"I'd love to..." he said before she cut herself off.

She blushed yet again. "...where?"

"Black Lake? Forbidden Forest?" He asked.

"I'd like to say out of the forest, if I can help it." she answered.

"Me too, It actually scares me..." he admitted. "Black Lake it is"

She realized he wouldn't have admitted that unless he trusted her. "Well, On Thursday Ron has detention for crashing that car and Harry has Quidditch practice…"

He smiled, nodding at their plans. "See you then, Granger."


	3. Chapter 3

On Wedesday night Hermione was in the Common Room. "Harry, can I ask for a favor?"

Harry looked up from his Quidditch rule book that he was studying again. "Yeah, sure."

"Can I borrow your cloak tomorrow?"

Harry raised an eyebrow. She'd never wanted to borrow it before. "What for?"

Quick! Think of an excuse! she told herself. "You know..I wanted to do some extra reading...in the restricted section."

Harry laughed. Leave it to Hermione to want invisibility to read more. "Yeah, sure." Good. Her excuse worked. She snuck out of the entrance hall on Thursday night, but was sure to take of the cloak a bit before the lake as to not give Harry's secret away to Draco

Draco was sitting at the edge of the water, his shoes off, toes dipping into the water. He wondered if she'd actually show up.

"Hey" she called out to him.

He looked back and smiled. "Hey!" He said a bit too enthusiastically. She beamed. He stood up. "I was hoping you'd show."

"You know, last week if someone told me I'd be doing this I'd say it was a ploy for me to get detention..."

"And I'd never have met you out here," he said, sitting back down and letting his feet hit the water again. She sat down next to him. "I can't believe it's been so long since we last talked."

She laughed. "It's been less than a week!"

"It doesn't feel like it. I had classes with you and I had to pretend to hate you when I wanted to say 'hi!'" he laughed.

She smiled too. She looked at his hands, but she knew she wasn't brave enough to grab out to them.. Draco rested his hand on the ground between them, inching closer. He stopped. What was he doing? He was barely friends with her. He couldn't just hold her hand...besides...he didn't like her like that...did he?

"So" she said, quickly moving her hand to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, "how've you been?"

"Good. I passed on my essay, thanks to you," he laughed.

She smiled. She was happy she helped him out. "I passed too." She added

"Of course. You always do," he said, splashing water lightly with his toes.

"mm..." it shouldn't be this hard to talk to him

"D..D'you want to go for a walk?" Draco asked suddenly.

"Yes!" They got up and walked a few feet. "So.." she tried to start a conversation.

"Yes?" He looked at her. She was still looking at the ground.

"Um…" she murmured. They walked a few more feet in silence. Ugh, why can't I just be interesting and say something? the both of them thought. "Look, I can't do this anymore." she finally said once they had almost finished walking along the lake.

Draco blinked at her a few times. "w-what?" he sputtered. "Why?"

"Why?" she looked at him like he was delusional. "Well, can you honestly say you're having a good time right now?"

"Well, I suppose it's a bit awkward…" he murmured

"Yeah…" she agreed, looking at the ground. "Let's just go back."

"To the way things were, you mean?"

"What? I meant back to the castle…"

"Oh." There was another silence that lasted the length of the walk to the castle.

"Well," she started to murmur as they got back to the Entrance hall.

"Bye Mudblood!" he yelled and went running toward the dungeons where the Slytherin Common Rooms were.

"Bye…Draco." She murmured.


End file.
